


can a jasmine bloom in one night?

by gaeger16



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi has art block, Akaashi is an artist, Art Exhibits, Bokuto does performance art, Bokuto is an artist, Bokuto's abs, Clubbing, Everyone is a work of art, Kenma makes a cameo appearance, Konoha is an artist, M/M, Painting, Performance Art, aerial dancing, he also secretly does make-up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22935010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaeger16/pseuds/gaeger16
Summary: In that instant second, time seemed to slow down for Akaashi as the only thing he could ever concentrate on were those captivating orbs staring back at him from a few feet away. He could only faintly hear the guests clapping, along with the announcer’s voice that spoke through the speakers. None of that mattered to Akaashi, at least, not at the moment when Bokuto was giving him the same look he did when he softly caressed Akaashi’s cheek, telling him that he’d bloom at his best.Oh… and that smile. His smile blinded Akaashi even further, wondering whether it was Bokuto or the bright star that shined the brightest.In which Konoha finds out Akaashi has art block and invites him to one of his closest friend's performance show in the hopes of helping Akaashi out of the little box he's built for himself. Akaashi on the other hand, was prepared to have another uneventful night in which he's left alone to suffer through his sudden lack of inspiration. Never in a million years would he have ever expected a night such as this to happen as long as he was alive. And it all starts with a pair of golden orbs staring right back at him through an enormous grey-horned owl mask.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Kotarou
Kudos: 9





	can a jasmine bloom in one night?

**Author's Note:**

> So you decided to click on this fic huh?
> 
> Good luck, this is awfully long for one chapter in my opinion but I guess you'll see why as you read on.

_“Curved lines, minimum to maximum strokes, emphasising, contrastive colors….”_

Akaashi has been staring at the same painting for a little more than ten minutes, all the while internally enumerating all the intricate details of the art piece. The glass of red wine he held with his right hand was left unnoticed as he continued to decipher the entire significance of the painting. It wasn’t exactly the most puzzling painting he’s ever seen since most of the details and elements combined were fairly simple such as the strokes that line up from the top to the bottom of the canvas, which was the biggest one amongst all the other pieces from the gallery, Akaashi might add. The only thing that was entirely distinctive was the golden cube-like element that was, more or less, plastered upon the center of the strokes. His eyes drifted towards the title of the piece, hoping to find the painting’s description, and yet the rectangular label card only contained one word…

“Protagonist, huh?” Akaashi hummed as he finally took a sip of the red wine.

Before he could drown in his thoughts any further, he was stunned back to reality as he heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Akaashi! Hey, I knew you’d come!” Konoha flashed a wide grin as he patted Akaashi’s back. Akaashi managed a soft smile, nodding at Konoha standing beside him. He took note of how dressed up his friend was a little more than usual. Then again, this was Konoha’s art exhibition after all.

“I wouldn’t miss it, Konoha-san.” Akaashi replied after a few seconds.  
Konoha chuckled, crossing his arms against his chest.  
“Well, now that I’ve caught you, mind explaining why you’ve been staring at this painting for almost half an hour now?”

Akaashi tried to hide the blush developing upon his cheeks from embarrassment, taking another sip of his red wine thinking that it would make it less obvious.  
“It wasn’t even half an hour...” He replied.

Konoha shook his head, patting Akaashi’s shoulder.  
“Of course it wasn’t, Keiji. So which is it are we trying to debunk this time? The lines? Colors? Maybe even the huge-ass canvas?” He chuckled.

Akaashi merely shook his head.  
“Everything’s beautifully executed in my opinion….I wouldn’t really say the same for the description.”

“Somehow I knew you were gonna have a problem with that. To be fair, it was an entirely conscious decision on my part.” Konoha shrugged with a grin.

Akaashi gave him a side-glance, as if he was trying to interrogate his friend into telling the truth. He knew Konoha as an exceptionally gifted artist himself taking into account how experimental his previous exhibitions seem to be. Nevertheless, Akaashi considered Konoha to be thoughtful when coming up with ideas for every piece, all the while always considering the meaning behind every painting. At this point of time however, Akaashi couldn’t help the confusion riddled upon his face.  
“I’m not following… “ He admitted.

Konoha merely rolled his eyes at the expression. “Fine, let me ask you this then. If you were gonna give this painting a description, what would it be?”

Akaashi was taken aback by the question, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.  
“You’re asking me what I think this painting would mean?”

“Yeah, why not?” Konoha retorted.

Akaashi breathed a sigh, training his gaze back to the painting in front of them.  
“Regarding the title “Protagonist”, I’d say your intention was stated pretty clearly with how the strokes line up repeatedly as the background while the golden form on the center is completely emphasized. Your intention was to make the most eye-catching form the so-called “protagonist”. Need I say more?”

“Nah, that’s already a given. But I do appreciate your blatant honesty, dear friend.” Konoha laughs as he grabs a glass of wine from one of the servers, taking a quick sip.

“I’d figured I’d put this out there to confuse a bunch of people. And it seems like it worked on one of the most inquisitive people I know. Seriously, did you come here just to brood all over this painting?” He tipped his glass towards Keiji with a smirk.

“I’m just… trying to scout for some potential subjects that might come in handy for my next work.” Akaashi murmured silently.

“Hm? Oh that’s right! You’re putting up an exhibition in a few months or so right? How’s that going so far?” Konoha asks.

Akaashi heaves a defeated sigh, settling his now empty glass of wine at a table nearby.  
“Not exactly going the way I wanted it to be, considering the fact that, I’m here in your exhibition …. Looking for anything that might come with inspiration.” He shrugs, lowering his gaze down to the ground.

Konoha merely gave him a stare for a couple of seconds before finally putting two on two together. “Keiji…. Are you having an art block right now?”

Akaashi gulps, not expecting that his friend would catch up on his current situation so soon. He massages the back of his neck, trying to hide the frustration plastered upon his face.  
“As much as I hate to admit it, I think it would seem so….” _And it’s driving me absolutely nuts_. “I haven’t been able to find anything I would consider for the project.” _I may or may not have been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks over this._ I’ve tried different activities that might… spark the inspiration back.” _Anything but going out to explore, it seems._

Akaashi didn’t typically like to go outside of his apartment if it deemed unnecessary. Even more so for the past couple weeks as he was all cooped up in his apartment, leaving him with nothing but frustration as he continued to suffer through his lack of creativity. He supposed it was from seeing the same environment over and over again that left him with no formidable ideas, but then again, he never did find the urge and energy to come out of the comfort of his home. The only time Akaashi ever does come out is during gatherings with friends or other significant family reunions he might have to attend once in a while. Scouting for exhibition venues were also considered, along with other exhibitions that he might find interesting. And so once he received the invite from Konoha regarding his art exhibition, he jumped at the opportunity and replied that he’d most certainly come, hoping that he’d find his big break then.

“I’m… at my wit’s end, I suppose.” Akaashi admits.

Konoha lets out a boisterous laugh, startling some of his guests around the corner. He quickly quieted down as soon as he realized he was being a little too loud. Akaashi triumphed at his embarrassment.

“You deserved that.”

Konoha rolled his eyes, slightly nudging Akaashi with his elbow.  
“Oh hush now, it’s my exhibition. But seriously Keiji…. You’ve never had an art block before? I assumed you would’ve experienced it a couple of times by now. But then I guess there’s a first for everything, huh?”

“I suppose. I just never expected it to happen so suddenly. I mean, up until a few weeks ago, I was able to look at a canvas and easily come up with some kind of composition. Now… I could barely pick up a paintbrush.” Akaashi twiddles with his thumbs.

Both of them remained silent for a minute or two before Konoha spoke again.

“Maybe you just gotta let it happen, man. Trust me, I’ve been there a couple times way back. I’ve tried forcing it out of me by continuing to paint or draw or anything, really. Inspiration didn’t come back immediately even after all that. I’ve tried doing absolutely nothing, even that was just as frustrating.” Konoha stifles a laugh before continuing.

“Seriously, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re not losing your skills as an artist… think of this as a temporary mental break or something.”

Akaashi slowly nodded at Konoha’s words, expression softening from its original hard stare.  
“I… suppose you’re right.”

“Have you tried going out lately? Konoha shrugged.

And there it was, the question Akaashi solely wished wouldn’t come out of the other’s mouth. Lying wasn’t an option either considering the fact that Konoha would find out right away that Akaashi wasn’t being truthful.

“Yes….” Akaashi foolishly tried.

“Yeah? Keiji, when was the last time you actually went out besides getting groceries, which I might add, is just a few blocks away from your apartment?” Konoha fired back with a knowing smirk.

“..... A couple of months ago. There was a book sale a couple of blocks away.” Akaashi hung his head low.

Konoha shook his head, nudging Akaashi again.  
“That just won’t do at all, won’t it Keiji? I don’t wanna sound like I’m nagging at you cus’ I’m sure you’re aware of what the real problem is here.”

Before Konoha could scold him again, one of the art goers called him over from around the corner, probably wanting to congratulate him and all.

“You should go, Konoha-san. I apologize for taking too much of your time. I wouldn’t want to bother you with this throughout your entire event.” Akaashi bowed his head in an apologetic manner.

“Nah, you’re alright, Keiji. Also, didn’t I tell you to drop the formalities already? We’ve known each other for a couple of years now.” Konoha patted his shoulder in reassurance.

“It’s always been a habit of mine.” Akaashi sported a soft smile.

“Old habits die hard huh? But seriously, try to consider everything I told you, alright? Go enjoy the rest of the show. I’ll see you around.” Konoha left with a wave before walking towards the art goers.

Akaashi sighs, looking back at the undefined painting in front of him.

“What would a protagonist do?...”

Akaashi’s morning started relatively simple at first with him waking up to his 8 a.m alarm. He felt extremely hungry as soon as he got out of bed, especially since he hadn’t had anything to eat right after coming home from Konoha’s exhibition last night. He settled with making himself some eggs and a cup of tea to start the day. He figured he’d be able to eat more during the day since he had to run a few errands out of his apartment. Errands meaning, going to his favorite coffee shop down the street and bringing his sketchbook to try and draw anything or anyone interesting from there. _That should probably count as going out and exploring, right?_ Akaashi thought to himself, taking Konoha’s advice from last night into consideration. Although it doesn’t seem like much of an effort since Akaashi regularly visits the cafe a few times a week. He was left with no choice however, considering he didn’t know where else to go.

At the coffee shop, he ordered a cafe au lait with a blueberry muffin before settling down on one of the tables outside. He typically preferred to sit inside on one of the tables by the window but he figured that he was way too familiar with the setting already and opted for a bit of a change in scenery. With a pencil and sketchbook laid out on the table, he started watching his surroundings as discreetly as possible.

In a span of half an hour, he saw a few things worth easily sketching on paper. Firstly, there was a mother and child sitting a few tables away from him. The mother was wiping down her child’s mouth with a wet tissue, smiling at how much of a clumsy eater the kid was. Akaashi quickly sketched the scene before moving onto the next.

Second, there was an elderly man struggling to hold his hot cup of coffee. It was almost tipping over as the old man tried to get a steady grip of it. Akaashi was almost tempted to stand up and make his way over towards the man to help him. Luckily the elderly man wasn’t entirely by himself, seeing that a young woman made her way over to the table and settling beside the elderly man, helping him drink his coffee.

A smile slowly crept its way onto Akaashi’s face as he continued to sketch. He wouldn’t consider it to become a subject of interest for his upcoming project, but it served him enough to keep sketching.

The third sketch was a little more peculiar than the rest he must admit. It was the funniest bit however. There was a young man with duo-toned hair that was tied in a half bun sitting near the cafe’s entrance. He was hunched over his seat, almost hiding his entire face with a few locks of his hair falling to the side of his cheeks, holding a handheld game console. While sketching the young man, a cat made its way over towards the legs of his chair, circling around trying to get the man’s attention. Unfortunately that didn’t do much since the young man continued to push the buttons of his game console almost aggressively. The cat purred a few times which seemed to make the young man pry his eyes away from his game for a second before returning to his game. Sooner or later, the cat walked towards the front of the table, planting its paws onto the ground before launching itself up on the table, startling the young man back, letting out a soft gasp.

Akaashi almost let out a soft laugh before quickly placing a hand upon his lips to quickly recover. After a few seconds he glanced back at the young man and to his surprise, his game console was nowhere to be seen, probably inside of his hoodie’s pocket. He was softly petting the cat by the top of its head and behind its ears. From the looks of both of their expressions, Akaashi couldn’t tell who was the most satisfied out of the scenario.

Before Akaashi could find another thing to sketch, his phone rang from the inside of his jean pocket, startling him away from his zone. The caller didn’t really surprise him even a bit.

“Afternoon, Konoha-san.” Akaashi greeted nonchalantly from the other line before sipping the rest of his coffee.

“Keiji! Hey! Sorry I had to leave in the middle of our convrsation last night, I had to deal with a bunch of the other guests trying to pry information out of me. Honestly, how you never get along with other meddling art goers like yourself is beyond me.” Konoha let out a boisterous laugh from the other line.” He was clearly joking, trying to get a rise out of Akaashi since Konoha knows for a fact that Akaashi didn’t like dealing with art goers himself, despite also being a little “inquisitive”, as Konoha describes him to be.

“I didn’t expect that you’d be calling so soon.” Akaashi replied after a while.

“Yeah well you’re gonna find out why in a bit. What are you doing right now?” Konoha asks.

“Just sketching, really. Why?” A car honks by the road as Akaashi speaks.

“.....Are you sketching outside by any chance?” Konoha’s laughter can be heard from the other line.

“I figured I need the change of pace. You also managed to interrupt me while in the middle of a sketch. Now, if you called just to mock me for the next five minutes, I guess I’ll just have to hang up on you.” Akaashi lightly threatens.

“Wait a second! I wasn’t gonna mock ya! Okay, listen, I’m just gonna cut to the chase, yeah? I think I’ve figured a way to get out of your little…” Konoha clears his throat, “..problem.”

Akaashi raises his eyebrow at the unnecessary change of tone.  
“Yes, my art block. You can call it what it is.”

“R-Right. Well, like I said, I found a way. And no, it’s not another boring exhibition, unlike mine that is. Anyways, a friend of mine has a show scheduled tonight. And apparently, there’s been all kinds of good reviews about it.” Konoha explains.

Akaashi pauses through his sketching, his pencil hovering just a few millimeters above the page he was on. He takes a second to reply as he contemplates on the offer.

“Keiji, you there?” Konoha asked out of concern.

“Alright, let’s hear it then.” Akaashi says as he closes his sketchbook.

Akaashi didn’t know what he was expecting to be completely honest. The first few minutes of their call involved Konoha just spouting all kinds of bullshit before cutting to the actual chase of the conversation. Even right after the call, Konoha barely informed Akaashi about what kind of “show” it was that he was forcing him into watching. In the end, Konoha sent him the address of the so-called “show”, along with the link towards it’s page through text.

Akaashi sent a text back in mild annoyance saying, “Thanks a lot. You could’ve just sent it all through text.”

He briefly read the information regarding the show, which was called “ _AFTER DARK_ ” taking note of the fact that it was a solo performance. The whole show was going to take place at Nekoma Lab, which is one of the popular art galleries that not only holds art exhibitions, but as well as performing arts such as this particular event. It was the perfect venue, in Akaashi’s opinion. Regarding the description of what the show was about, there was little to no information about it. Many people seem to have seen the performance since it’s first day of schedule, which was a few days ago, leaving nothing but high praise in their reviews. Akaashi read through some of them, saying:

_“AFTER DARK is spectacular, money well spent!”_

_“This entire show made my night :D would recommend going back twice which I honestly did.”_

_“Bokuto is such an inspiration, I may or may not have cried during the entire performance.”_

_“Seriously, how do you even get a hot bod like that? Kotarou needs to do a sequel for the sole purpose of giving us a show of his abs.”_

Akaashi didn’t really know what to make of the last comment, which was one of the top comments he might add. He was starting to think that Konoha set him up on going to some kind of exhibitionist activity with how many of the comments seem to be fixated on praising “Koutarou’s abs”. Now I’m beginning to understand why it might be called “AFTER DARK” He thought to himself. Despite his doubts, he knew Konoha wouldn’t trick him into something like that since the man offered to go with him as well. Plus, Konoha mentioned something about being friends with this infamous Bokuto Kotarou, who is the main act in the performance.

 _“I promised to check his shit out since I owed him a favor from a year ago. No big deal. But he did say I could invite a friend or a few friends over. And that’s why I’m inviting you since you clearly have nothing to do at the moment, right?”_ Konoha chuckled over the phone.

Akaashi could recall the man’s irritatingly smug tone during their 8 minute call.  
“I better not regret this.” He says as he internally resigns and awaits what’s about to come at 7:30 PM.

Both Akaashi and Konoha agreed to meet at Nekoma Lab before 7:30 pm when the show was supposedly going to start. Akaashi arrived 15 minutes early and was immediately greeted by a girl who he assumed was part of the crew. She introduced herself as Hitoka Yachi, who will be leading guests into the lobby as soon as they’ve arrived, as well as answering any questions that the guests might have before the show starts. Akaashi didn’t miss the fact that she was slightly fidgety and stumbling over her words every now and then. Akaashi thanked her either way before proceeding to the lobby, which was almost completely filled with people standing around almost every corner. The space was relatively small considering how packed it was at the given moment, yet, each of the walls were decorated with different art pieces. Akaashi walked around, looking through each of them in admiration. It seemed as if all compositions surrounding the walls carried an “abstract” theme to them with how free and gestural the elements were. Even some of the notable sculptures located at the center of the lobby carried the same theme.

“Pretty neat huh?” A familiar voice spoke right beside him.

Akaashi nods at the sculpture despite not acknowledging Konoha’s presence.  
“I’m starting to wonder about the theme of the performance tonight.”

“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything simple with Bokuto. He’s a bit eccentric, in a good way though. I’ll introduce you two. Maybe you could even learn a thing or two from him.” Konoha chuckled.

Akaashi rolled his eyes back at Konoha, turning away from the sculpture.  
“You’re starting to sound like you’re trying to set me up on something other than watching a performance.”

Konoha merely shrugged at the response.  
“Dunno what you’re talking about.” His lips contorted into that of a knowing smirk before walking away.

Akaashi glares at the back of Konoha’s skull before checking the time on his watch.  
_6 minutes left._

After a few minutes, all the guests were called and led inside into the farthest room with two large black doors. As soon as they walked inside, they were immediately met with darkness surrounding all across the room. Akaashi could barely tell how large the room was. In fact, the main source of light was coming from the center of the room, where a full-length mirror with light bulbs surrounding the frame was placed along with a tepee tent. Surrounding both objects were fairy light bulbs that were placed on the ground, acting as a sort of barrier. A long carpet was laid out along the pathway in front of the mirror and tent, leading to the far end of the room which surprisingly, from what Akaashi could see from the darkness, were aerial silks connected to the high ceiling and beyond that was a blank wall. Yachi and a few other crew members led the guests towards their seating arrangements as swiftly as possible. Eventually, Akaashi figured out how spacey the room was despite the lack of light surrounding the room. Apparently, unlike a normal stage performance where there were seating chairs to accommodate the guests, there were no seating chairs to accommodate the guests. Everyone was encouraged to be seated on the ground, which Akaashi assumed was part of the experience for the matter. As far as seating arrangements went, both he and Konoha ended up being seated right in front of the surrounding fairy light bulbs where Akaashi could almost see his reflection from the mirror displayed in front. Akaashi looked away from the mirror, squinting slightly from how bright the lights coming from it’s frames were. He was having mixed feelings about being seated right in front, although Konoha, sitting right behind Akaashi, looked like he was overly content with having his friend enjoy the best seat in the house. By “enjoy”, Akaashi pretty sure it meant “suffer”.

A voice coming from the sound system startled Akaashi, announcing that the performance would be starting in 5 minutes.

“Ease up Keiji, nothing’s coming to get ya.” Konoha giggled from behind.

Akaashi nudges Konoha from behind with his elbow before turning his attention back to the center. He used the remaining time in surveying the rest of the room. While some guests were surrounding the center like a circle, the others were situated by the pathway side, where the carpet divides both crowds. The people situated at the ends politely gave enough room for where the aerial silks were located. Akaashi also took note of what he assumed was a large cushion mat that almost reached either end of the width of the room, wrapped around in what looks like white fabric aligned right below where the aerial silks were dangling.

 _“Prioritizing both aesthetics and safety is a pretty smart choice._ ” Akaashi thinks to himself.  
His eyes travelled to the other end of the room where a long dark curtain was covering the other side. Judging from the entire stage set so far, he had a feeling he was in for an enticing show.

Sooner or later, the inevitable proceeded as soon as the same announcer voice from earlier started the pre-show announcements which warned guests not to use any flash photography, including their smartphones during the performance. Right after the announcement, all sources of light were slowly dimmed, leaving the entire room in complete darkness as the performance started.

_A soft but lively tune from the keyboard started playing from the sound system, letting it echo through the darkness of the room for a few seconds. Suddenly, both the mirror and the tent were illuminated, accompanied by light coming from the ceiling. A silhouette of a man can be seen sitting inside of the tent. The soft music slowly dialed down a bit and soon, the figure stood up and finally came walking out of the tent, revealing himself towards the audience._

Upon seeing the full figure of the shadow, Akaashi felt a mixture of being amused but also dumbfounded. First of all, the figure was almost completely naked, wearing nothing but skin-tone boxer briefs which were luckily the thick stretch cotton type or Akaashi would’ve been dead on the spot considering he was right in front. That wasn’t even the most appalling part… the figure was somehow wearing a huge 3D owl mask that covered the man’s entire facial features. And just when Akaashi thought he had forgotten who exactly was performing that night, the peculiar character stood high and almighty, presenting his overall strong physique. Akaashi suddenly remembered all the top comments and reviews he’s read about the show online, particularly the one about “Kotarou’s abs”, leaving Akaashi to think:

_“Ah…. so this is Bokuto-san.”_

_Back to the performance itself, Bokuto, with his freakishly large grey horned owl mask stretched his limbs as if he just woken up from a nap, slightly groaning for extra effect._  
_“Ah~ that was a pretty good nap! I swore I could’ve slept for another 2 hours or so!” His animated voice echoed through the entire room._

Akaashi assumed he must’ve been wearing a mic under that mask.

_The owl stifled a soft laugh, shaking his owl head lightly._  
_“Nah~ we can’t really have that can we? There’s so much I’d like to do for the next few hours or so.” He walked towards the brightly-lit mirror, fumbling with his features, (the mask’s features). His hands ran across the top of his head where the owl ears were, fixing himself up however he could, earning a bunch of giggles from the audience. He gave a light shrug, uttering to himself, “That’s about as good as it gets.”_

_The owl turned away from the mirror as soon as he was done with his routine, walking alongside the lightbulbs, gazing down at the guests. He stopped mid-way and suddenly squatted down in front of a woman, shocking her slightly._

_“Oh my! Did I scare you Begonia? I’m sorry, you know how excitable I can be during this time.” Bokuto giggles softly, reaching his hand out and patting the woman’s shoulder gently._

_“Begonia?”_ Akaashi reiterated the name to himself. _“Is that her actual name or?...”_

_The woman merely smiles, a blush creeping right upon her cheeks. The owl man stands up once again before gently kneeling down in front of another guest._

_“What about you Orchid? We look pretty good today, don’t we?” He said towards a man with side swept hair._

_“Ah…. he’s naming them all as flowers.”_ Akaashi confirmed.

_The owl kept naming a few more guests with flower names, always following up his greeting with a positive compliment. Akaashi didn’t even realize that a figure was looming right in front of him until he was startled to see Bokuto himself kneeling right in front of him._

_“Last but not least, Jasmine...” The owl started with a gentle tone as he slowly reached his hand out to Akaashi._

Akaashi thought it was comical that he was on the receiving end of audience participation.  
And yet, he finds himself not complaining as much, either that or he’s completely frozen on the spot from how close Bokuto was that he could almost make out the color of Bokuto’s irises.

_“.....always radiating love and compassion. I know one day you’ll bloom at your best…” The owl continued the last bit almost like a whisper, unless Akaashi was imagining it. He might’ve also imagined the part where Bokuto’s hand lingered a few seconds too long upon his cheek before finally standing up. But then again, he wasn’t complaining._

_“Right, let’s get this night started, shall we?” The owl says as he claps his hand twice and suddenly the lights were out. The lights reappeared 5 seconds later when the owl clapped again, stunning the audience of the fact that he was now wearing a pink silk robe while carrying a coffee mug with a dog print on it with a caption saying “Don’t forget to go out and play.”_

Akaashi thought it was the most offensively positive caption he’s ever seen on a mug.

_“Hmmm… I wonder what I should do today? About this time I usually just see what’s on television and probably chow down on something.” The owl man sits down on the ground as he drinks the rest of his coffee, pretending to at least._

_“I wonder what regular people do on a Friday night. They usually go dancing at a club or go drinking or maybe at least hangout with a bunch of their friends, right?. Should I go clubbing?” He scratched the top of his head in confusion before leaning his feathery cheek onto his palm._

_“Nah… I- I don’t think I could do any of that. At least… not since the last time-”_

_Suddenly the sound effect of a telephone ringing startled Bokuto, interrupting him from speaking any further._

_“Oh! Who could that be?” He quickly rushed back to the tent, lighting up as soon as he was inside. His silhouette could be seen picking up the telephone before speaking._

_“Hello?.... Oh. Yeah don’t worry about it. Yeah, goodnight to you too!” The sound of him putting the telephone down can be heard before he walks out of the tent with a more somber posture._

_“Wrong number.” He deflates into the ground again, mindlessly playing with the coffee mug on the ground, twirling it by the rim. After a while he stops and turns the cup around, the ridiculous print facing his way._

_“Don’t forget to go out…. And play.” He reads out loud._

_“Oh boy…”_ Akaashi thinks to himself.

_The owl man freezes up on the ground where he is seated for a good few seconds before he plants both of his palms unto the ground, making a loud slap sound as he gets up quick on his feet._

_“The overly positive dog is right! I can’t just stay cooped up in here on a night like this! He cheerfully exclaims._

Akaashi almost chokes from the very first bit of that line.

_The owl man gaze travels down at himself before silently murmuring._

_“Maybe I should go get changed first.”_

_The audience laughs at that, even Akaashi snorts silently before the main light dims out once again. From there on out the story proceeds as soon as a projection of an animated city was illuminated against the farther wall of the room. The owl, seemingly dressed in a blue button up half tucked in moss green corduroy jeans and some sneakers, proceeded to take a stroll down the various city attractions._

Akaashi honestly thought the owl pulled the look off.

_As soon as the projection transitions into the view of the night sky, the audience was introduced to a dear friend of the owl’s, Yoosie, a bright, big star. The owl seemed very excited to see the bright star, climbing onto one of the aerial silks as they talked. Text would flash right across the projection whenever the star replied to the owl._

_At one point, Yoosie noticed that the owl was wearing clothes, to which the owl unwillingly made up an excuse of going to a party. The star remained silent upon the owl’s reply. Nevertheless, Yoosie wished the owl a joyful night. As a farewell, the owl promised to tell the star everything that was to occur in his adventurous night. Back at the city, the owl continued to stroll around the streets, looking for a party he could possibly sneak into. Luckily he heard a faint music beat being played off at the distance in which he decided to follow._

_The music started getting a little louder, which eventually led him to the entrance of a club where a short queue of people were lining up right outside. Feeling a little uneasy, the owl summed up the courage to go talk to the person queued up before him, poking their shoulder gently (an effort to make it look like there was a person right in front of him but there really wasn’t)._

_Again, text flashed through the projection, indicating that the said person the owl was talking to was surprised by seeing the owl._

_“Um, excuse me, is this the line leading into a party, perhaps?” The owl asked._

_The person replies._  
_“Jeez dude, don’t scare me like that. Also, does it look like anything other than a queue to a party?”_

_The owl scratches the side of his cheek in visible confusion._  
_“I wasn’t…. Really sure.”_

_“.... That mask seems a little too much for an average party like this, don’t you think?” The person asks._

_The owl’s head leans into the side, looking even more confused and rather taken aback by such words._  
_“I- I’m not wearing a mask! This is actually my head!” He points out by gripping the tip of his ears._

_“Sure it is.” The person sarcastically remarks._

_The owl wanted to convince the person even further but sooner or later the line started to move forward._

Akaashi may have felt a little bad for the owl at that point, silently rooting for something to completely turn the situation around.

_The scene changes into the party itself with the music blasting a little louder through the speakers. Somehow the owl muttered in annoyance as he animatedly grew frustrated over having to convince the bouncer that he was NOT wearing a mask, although to no avail since he was just made fun of in the end. The owl however did not let this situation deter his excitement to finally experience being at a club. Unfortunately, the scene only gets worse from there. While trying to get a drink by the bar, the owl couldn’t help but bump into too many people. He apologizes constantly to those he’s encountered hoping that people would forgive him. Unfortunately it only results in the opposite effect in which people torment him by calling him names, most notably a “freak” or “weirdo” and even nastier comments about his appearance. The excitement that the owl originally felt in exploring the depths of the city only turns into that of pure conflict, dejection and fear. The more these negative feelings seem to eat away at him, the words “freak” and “weirdo” flash across the projection multiple times, visibly getting bigger and bigger as it covers everything beyond the original projection._

_The owl shakes in fear, kneeling down as he breathes heavily, clutching at his chest as the words continued to plague away his judgement. Sooner or later, the owl struggles free from the clothes that he originally thought were going to make him fit into society. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the same feelings for wearing clothes as he did hours ago, disgusted about how it just sticks to his skin, constricting his entire body as if almost suffocating him. He rips away from each individual clothing, his soft conflicted cries echoing through the room as he brings his knees together against his chest, burying his head within as the lights dimmed slowly at the owl’s complete and utter sadness._

Akaashi couldn’t help the heaviness he felt in his heart right after watching such a horrific scene. His hands gripped upon themselves a little tight.

_In the darkness, a twinkle chime sounded off, slowly bringing the light from the projection back in. The scene completely changed into the night sky once again with the big bright star shining upon the center. The owl stayed huddled up below, unable to face his dear friend._

_The star twinkled, asking the owl if something was wrong, but the owl silently rocks back and forth. Yoosie tried again, asking where the owl’s beautiful clothes were. The owl shrugs his shoulders as he continued to curl in on himself. The star then asks if the owl wanted to play for a bit, to which the owl slowly lifts his head up and nods before lights dim again._

_After a few seconds the projection lights up again, showing the owl using both aerial silks tied together as a swing. His shoulders were slumped down, gaze looking down towards the ground._

_“I don’t get it Yoosie.” He silently whispers._

_The star asks what he means by that._

_“Tonight was supposed to be my night. At least, that’s what I hoped it would be. But… the result turned out to be even worse..” The owl dejectedly says as he recalls the very first moment when he decided to come out and explore the city. He briefly opens up about what happened, explaining how he wanted to visit the park during the night where people could be seen strolling around every now and then. His first nightly stroll turned a little sour when a group of rowdy teenagers started mocking him. From that moment on, he put off the idea of exploration aside, afraid of what people would do if they saw him. Yoosie would come and visit him from his window every now and then to come and say hello. But other than that, the owl opted to stay in the comfort of his home until now._

_“People… think I'm weird. They call me a freak, Yoosie. I mean… I know I don’t exactly look like them in any sense.” He grips his head a little too hard._

_“They think this… is not part of me. As if it can be detached that easily. As if I have to force myself to be something else than what I already am. Sometimes… Most of the time I wish that I could be exactly like them.” He hangs his head low._

_The star twinkles in reply after a few seconds of silence._  
_“You’ll never be like them…”_

_The owl was taken aback by the reply._  
_“I- I know that! You didn’t have to make it sound like I-”_

_“Because you’re your own being.” The star interrupts._

_The owl leans in head to the side in confusion._

_“This is not exactly unexpected behavior for human beings. Whether we both like it or not, we are both seen as different, you and I…. No matter how much we want to understand each other, there will always be differences. However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t one being out there who could willingly accept you for who you are.” The star explains._

_The owl snorts silently, toying with his fingers._  
_“Where would I find someone like that?...”_

_“You already have one.” The star chimes twice._

_The owl slowly raises his head in realization, turning to look at the bright star for the first time since the star comforted him in his time of need._

_“Yoosie.” The owl whispers as he stands up on the silks._

_“There will be many others to come to see the greatness in you… just as I have from the very beginning.”_

_“What do you mean by that?” The owl chuckles._

_At this, the neighboring stars surrounding the bright star visibly brighten a little more, each chiming in response._

_The owl gasps in surprise, jumping down from the swing as he takes a good look at an even brighter sky thanks to all the other stars that seemed to be shining his way._

_“Yoosie! Is this all for me?” The owl exclaims in joy._

_“Just as how easily you accept every single being you come across, a thousand of stars already accept you as one of their own.” The star says._

_The owl clutches his chest, seemingly doubting himself._  
_“Am… Am I even enough?”_

_The stars keep shining brightly, faintly chiming as the big bright star finally chimes._  
_“You are not only enough… You are already the most.”_

_The owl was stunned in silence over the star’s comforting response. Both of his hands clutched his chest, right against his heart._

_“You know… I started tonight by thinking that I was going to be hanging around with people… dancing through the night, and if I’m lucky, maybe meet a person that sees me for who I am….” The owl shakes his head at the thought, stifling a soft chuckle._

_“Never in a million years could I have ever imagined… that I’d be doing all those things… with the brightest beings in the entire world. And nothing will ever take this experience away from me.” The owl visibly shines with his radiant aura once again, swinging through the aerial silks, dancing through the tune of cheery music that echoed throughout the room as the owl dances with his newly-found friends._

At this point, the audience couldn’t contain the tears as Akaashi could hear a bit of sniffing around the room. Akaashi was surprised to hear a bit of sniffling from behind him too, turning around to see Konoha wiping his teary eyes with the back of his jacket’s sleeve.

“I’d offer you a tissue, but it seems I don’t have any..” Akaashi whispers softly.

“Sh-shut up!” Konoha says a little too loud, earning him a hush from the other guests surrounding him.

Akaashi merely snorts before turning his attention back to the owl as he professionally aerial dances up the air. He moved with such grace that it was hard for anyone to take their eyes off of the beautiful scene.

_Sooner or later, the projection dims away as the owl descends from the aerial silks. The center stage with the mirror and tent lightens up instead and the owl runs back to the area. He stretches once again, heaving a soft sigh of content._

_“Tonight went better than originally planned.” The owl whispers._

_A chime sounded off, making the owl turn around towards the pathway, jumping a bit as he waves his hand._

_“I’ll see you again Yoosie!” He giggles before turning back around again._

_“I guess it’s time for a snooze, huh?” He nods to himself before walking inside of his tent, settling in for the night as the morning comes._

_The light dims slowly, leaving the entire room in darkness for a few moments before birds chirping sounded off, to which the center stage lit up again. The owl’s silhouette can be seen from inside the tent as he started waking up from his slumber. But as soon as he came out, the audience, along with Akaashi, was left stunned at seeing who they knew as the owl, except this time gone was the freakishly large owl head and instead… it was the face of a human person. A handsome face of a human person, Akaashi unconsciously thought to himself._

_The owl, who originally had a head almost larger than his entire torso, was now a human person. Akaashi had gotten used to seeing the owl in its original form that he’s completely forgotten of the fact that there was an actual person with a human face within that mask. Akaashi immediately noticed the male’s captivating orbs, reminding him of the color gold, which at the moment he thought was the most beautiful color to ever exist, especially seeing it on the man himself. His hair, despite being pressed down overtime from wearing the owl mask, was done up with what Akaashi assumed would’ve been gel, making him almost look like a human version of a grey-horned owl himself. A lot of thoughts were going on inside of Akaashi’s mind at the given second as the owlish man stood tall in front of him. But one thing he knew for sure was that the man standing a few feet away from him wearing nothing but skin-toned boxer briefs was none other than Bokuto Kotarou himself._

_Back to reality, the owl man, now Bokuto, stretched and yawned as he did the first time his owlish form was introduced at the start of the play._

_“Ah~ It’s morning again. My body’s aching for some reason..” The male says as he massages his back for a bit. There were tiny feathers littered around his face and neck which the male himself wasn’t aware of until he walked in front of the mirror, seeing his own reflection for the first time that morning._

_“Wait, where did all these feathers come from?” He says as he wipes most of them off of his body, somehow picking up one of them, examining it between his thumb and index finger. He shrugs before blowing the feather away, watching it drift through the air before looking back at his own reflection._

_“Right. Let’s get the day started.” He says, bringing his hands together and clapping twice, making the lights go off as the show finally reaches its conclusion._

The audience started clapping as soon as the lights dimmed. Akaashi clapped along with the rest of the guests, overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions. After a while all the lights lit up, showcasing the entire stage. The announcer's voice sounded off from the speakers and proceeded with the curtain call. Bokuto, who was the main character, was introduced first. The male walked out from the side with a big smile, clapping along with the guests as he stood at the center of the pathway . The rest of the theatre personnel were called out one by one, standing side by side with Bokuto with bright smiles upon their faces.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming! This entire production would’ve never been possible if it weren’t for you guys’ support. The entire production, including myself, applaud you all individually. Please give yourselves a hand!” Bokuto and the crew clapped towards the guests, encouraging them to clap along with them as well.

Akaashi winced as soon as Konoha cheered boisterously for his dear friend, blowing a high-pitched whistle from behind him.

Bokuto turned his head at the boisterous cheer, casually making finger-guns right at Konoha as soon as he spotted him from all the guests. Akaashi shakes his head in disbelief as he glances back at his friend, despite snorting in laughter over Konoha’s behavior. He looks back at the cast and crew, somehow finding golden orbs staring right back at his gunmetal blue ones. In that instant second, time seemed to slow down for Akaashi as the only thing he could ever concentrate on were those captivating orbs staring back at him from a few feet away. He could only faintly hear the guests clapping, along with the announcer’s voice that spoke through the speakers. None of that mattered to Akaashi, at least, not at the moment when Bokuto was giving him the same look he did when he softly caressed Akaashi’s cheek, telling him that he’d bloom at his best.

Oh… and that smile. His smile blinded Akaashi even further, wondering whether it was Bokuto or the bright star Yoosie that shined the brightest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter of this fic  
> If you managed to reach to the end, I applaud you.
> 
> Comments, kudos and other feedback are appreciated.
> 
> The last chapter will involve clubbing :P
> 
> Akaashi would definitely LOVE that.


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